House Republican Leader Larry Cafero
So, anyone paying attention woke up Saturday morning, August 23rd, to learn that General Assembly has come up with a plan to help thousands of Connecticut families heat their homes this winter funded out of the 2008 budget surplus. At the heart of the Republican energy assistance program was relief for middle class earners who are largely responsible for producing that $75 million surplus.
It is the family of four earning up to $94,000 annually that rarely if ever qualifies for any state aid because they live just north of an arbitrary income level that deserve some help as well. The state’s Rainy Day Fund is full at $1.3 billion and is not going to be touched by the fuel assistance program. Few families could budget for the cost of heating fuel because prices have risen so dramatically.
Just who would fall under that maximum $94,000 figure? It is a police officer and a home health aid with two children, or perhaps two entry level teachers, or a single-income family with one stay-at-home parent. It is a state worker and a spouse paying for college.
It is the epitome of the working middle class in Connecticut.
Republicans expressed doubt that those families earning up to 100 percent of the median income in Connecticut, or $94,000, will ultimately receive fuel assistance. Typically available funds run are targeted for those families who qualify for many other state programs and when the money runs out, it runs out.
There are also provisions to help heat municipal buildings, schools and non-profit service organizations.
We’ll see just who benefits by spring time.
The fuel assistance program received broad bipartisan support in the legislature. One troubling aspect of the initiative, however, was the creation of a yet to be determined process to distribute the bulk of the aid in a contingency fund. Republicans preferred to use existing programs and simply expand the income restrictions to include more families so that the funds are used more efficiently and quickly.
The bulky process requires the governor’s budget office to come up with a plan present it to legislative leaders and inject the legislative process into the mix. It could take months to work out, but we’ll see. The Republican proposal did not spend any more surplus money than competing programs; in fact our comprehensive energy plan would have saved thousands of motorists millions at the gas pump, but the Democrats, once again sad “no.”
Gambling that the Farmer’s Almanac has it wrong with its prediction of a colder and snowier than average winter is not a responsible position for elected leaders to take. Suggesting that people put on a sweater as the thermometer drops will not help either. It is unfortunate that a sensible energy plan had not been put in place while we had the time this spring rather than just before Labor Day.
We can’t, as Mark Twain said, do anything about the weather, but at least we can try.
Filed under: Larry Cafero, Tax Relief
